Undead Snow
by the-knight-in-sour-armor
Summary: The Infection has spread. No cure, no stop in sight. The dead walk among us. Is this hell on Earth? Is it the Wrath of God? Biological Warfare gone wrong? Haku doesn't know nor care. He just has to find him before it's too late. (A modern Naruto AU fanfic with Haku as the main protagonist though some chapters will be from other character's POV.)
1. Good Deeds

Hi there, welcome to the first chapter. The setting, _for now_, will take place in Konoha, which shall be depicted as a busy city with subdivisions and rural areas surrounding it. I plan for this to be a multi-chapter fic with a well thought out plot as it's something I have wanted to write for a while now. Though I do have a basic idea of how I want the story to progress, nothing is set in stone. Therefore your reviews and feed back will be welcomed!

Chapter 1

**Good Deeds**

Coming out of a sound sleep Haku turned his face slowly his chocolate eyes focusing on the man laying next him. Usually sharp features softened by sleep, Haku watched as the soft rays of dawn spilling in the window danced across Zabuza's naked body. Coral lips curled into a smile as Haku got lost in the moment, admiring the man that had saved him long ago. Gave him a second chance. Twisting his body slightly he looked over at the clock on the nightstand, the six and double zeros it displayed causing him to sigh. '_Just five more minutes_,' he told himself as he moved closer, burring his face in his lover's neck, breathing in his scent.

The call had come around 1am , the hospital saying the needed him to come in early. Haku was already scheduled to work a double shift that Thursday, but hearing the urgency in Dr. Akiyama voice, he found a fatigue drenched '_yes_' falling from his lips into his cell phone.

The alarm clock was blaring now for attention and Haku stretched out a slender arm to silence it. Pushing his long hair from his face he looked over at the older man next to him again, placing a kiss to his cheek before gently untangling their bodies not wanting to wake his partner.

Zabuza had work himself in a few hours and it would be nearly a day and a half before he laid eyes on him again, the combination of the shifts awaiting him at the hospital 12 hours plus. Haku swung his legs over the bed rubbing his eyes before pushing himself to his feet, hoping a hot shower would wake him up.

Pulling on his scrubs he looked into the wall mirror on the back of the bedroom door tying up long damp hair into a messy bun. Glancing at the clock he grabbed his bag before heading for the stairs, looking over at Zabuza once more before quietly shutting the bedroom door. Stopping at the fridge for his lunch Haku noticed the sink overflowing with dishes. Sucking his teeth he grabbed his keys from the dining table before hurrying out the door. No point and stressing over dishes, he'd take care of it when he got home.

There would be time.

His usual twenty minute commute to the hospital took well over an hour. Konoha's largest hospital sat right on the edge of the city and the streets that lead to the interstate were teetering grid lock. After inching up all but three feet, Haku bared down on the break half tempted to just put the car in park. The traffic had been bumper to bumper since he had turned on to the main road. Leaning forward in his chair he squinted at the hospital off in the distance. Even from his car he could tell the parking lot was overflowing, what looked like four or five ambulances were lined up just trying to get to the unloading dock of the ER. Some cars had even drove onto the lawn that sprawled out a football field's length in front of the hospital.

He'd seen the headlines. Heard them on the radio on the way to work. The bizarre stories of incidents all over the country. A homeless woman found eating a dead man's face. The man police shot 13 times in the chest that _kept_coming. The media had chalked them up to drug abuse, criminals strung out on acid and meth. Paranoia still spread like wildfire, gun sales sky rocketed, grocery store shelves barren. Haku and Zabuza had spent most week nights like the rest of the city, glued to the TV waiting for answers. Despite many people leaving the city when the reports began piling up, Zabuza decided it was best for them to stay put for now. strung out drug addicts or something else, the ex-marine's basement full of guns was enough piece of mind for the time being.

Pandemonium.

The only word that comes close to describing the lobby of the ER when the feminine male finally stepped inside through the automatic doors. The waiting area's size fell short and the sick spilled out into the lobby. The narrow halls were lined with gurneys and the sick standing, sitting, collapsing. The phones were going unanswered, their ringing a constant background noise. Pushing his way through the crowd, Haku stepped into the reception office, hoping to stop someone who could tell him something ,anything. Out the corner of his eye he spotted one of the other nurses that normally worked the night shift.

"Excuse me! Hey Mihoshi!"

Looking up the girl grabbed Haku's arm pulling him along with her as she walked quickly towards the clinic exam rooms.

"Walk with me I can't stop. A patient is convulsing in exam room four. Temperature 105."

"What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know, but It's been this way since yesterday afternoon. I haven't stopped for eight hours now."

Just outside the exam room Mihoshi hunched forward gripping her knees. Haku frowned, eyes flooding with concern as he placed a hand on his colleagues shoulder. Pushing golden locks from her face, the petite woman looked up, the violet hue under eyes prominent.

"They all have the same symptoms. At first we thought it was some 'hulked' up strain of the flu but it's progressing to quickly."

Haku eyes narrowed and he tilted his head slightly.

"Meningitis?"

Mihoshi shook her head as she bit the inside of her lip.

"Akiyama thought that too… but it looks nothing like it under the scope… the lab has no clue what it is. A mutated strain of _something_."

There was a scream from the other side of the door, a plea for help. Mihoshi pushed down on the handle looking back over at Haku.

"Akiyama should be in his office. He can tell you where he needs you."

Haku took one last look at the hysteria in the lobby before scanning his ID and slipping through the double doors, now even less enthused about the 24 hours ahead.

_It never stopped._

Four hours.

Ten hours.

The sick just kept pouring in. Around 6pm almost twelve hours after Haku arrived, the Dean of Medicine made the call. They were too far over capacity, not able to except anymore patients into the ER. Fear and anxiety filled the packed waiting room and lobby as the overhead blared reports of other hospitals in the city experiencing the same. Words like deadly, fast moving,**_epidemic_**.

By midnight fatigue was setting in and Haku's head was pounding. Before seeing his next patient he called Zabuza's phone for the hundredth time, once again getting his voice mail. It strangely felt like years since he heard his voice, and he listened through to the beep before flipping his phone shut and slipping it in his pocket. The exam room area was crowded but at least at the moment he wasn't treating patents right out in the waiting area, the privacy of the exam hall somewhat calming. Rubbing his eyes he forced a smile at the woman sitting in front of him, swabbing the crook of her arm with an alcohol pad.

"Just a pinch I promise."

Haku paused watching as the vein in her arm swelled and took a breath lining up the needle.

A blood curdling scream.

A fleeting moment of stillness.

Horror.

The syringe fell to the floor and Haku turned towards the direction of rising panic, eyes widening as the air left his lungs. Two nurses stumbled from the entrance to the east wing of the hospital, blood spewing from the gaping hole in one of their necks. The one not bleeding was hysterical, covered in her friend's blood.

"Please someone help! H-he he bit her!"

Everyone froze for a moment, shock soon replaced with sheer terror. Haku ran over to help along with other doctors and nurses in the hall but it was in vain. The bite was deep, a large chunk of her Trechea gone, ripped out. Gripping her hand Haku watched helplessly as she drowned in her own blood.

By the time the police arrived the hospital had all but went to hell. Most of the doctors had left abandoning their patients. The floor of the waiting area was riddled with vomit and urine. People laid dying in the halls. The doctors and nurses who hadn't already fled were barricaded behind the double doors of the the large triage room off to left of the lobby. It's practicality long faded with order and stability. There weren't any priority patients. They all needed immediate care, all dying at a frightening rate.

Haku starred up blankly at his boss disbelief swimming in his dark eyes.

"So that's it? We just give up?!"

His voice shook with anger and panic all the same. Pausing for a moment, Dr. Akiyama looked up from his things.

"We don't have a choice. There are too many of them. We don't even know what this is, let alone how to treat it. "

His voice cracked as he turned back to his bag.

" We have told everyone to evacuate the hospital, there is no more we can do for them."

Haku shook his head and took a step forward, his tone full of desperation, anger lacing his words.

"EVACUATE?! Most of them are too sick to even stand! We can't just abandon them. There are children in that lobby, _infants_."

As he watched the last of the nurses and doctors slip through the emergency exit, his eyes widened as an even more disturbing thought crept into Haku's consciousness.

" The nursery… the maternity ward… ?"

Hanging his head Dr. Akiyama clutched at his bag, his silence making Haku's heart pound in his chest.

"You can't do this! Medi-vac them, call for help, something!"

He was screaming now, his small body trembling, blood on fire.

"You're killing them!"

Then he was yanked forward, fingers clutching the sides of his face. Cobalt eyes swimming with terror reflecting his own.

"There are others like Yumi… hundreds of them. "

Haku inhaled sharply clutching a hand to the smooth skin on the side of his neck.

"Calls have been coming in non-stop… hospitals far as Suna._.. "  
_

trembled, his eyes glazed with fear as he released his grip and took a step back wiping the perspiration from his forehead.

"It's makes the brain swell… makes you crazy.._."_

Turning back to his belongings he tilled his head towards the ceiling, adam's apple jumping in his throat.

"Save yourself…"

Trembling Haku slowly rose his gaze his nostrils flaring as his head shook from side to side violently.

"I can't just leave… I have to warn them at least…"

The words fell apart in his throat, as he tried to push them past his lips.

"…help the children."

His boss took a step forward and grabbed his hand, something like regret swimming in his softened eyes. Or maybe just pity.

Then he was gone. Leaving Haku alone in the large empty room. For a moment he thought of running after him, changing his mind. Hidden by tinted glass he peered into the waiting room at the chaos, trying to calm his racing thoughts.

'_What do I say? What do I do?_'

The questions bounced around in his head until he thought he'd go crazy. Suddenly small hands were pushing open double doors. Every able body in the ER turning to look at him. Haku opened his mouth to speak but no words came. Suddenly all he could think about was his sink.

The double bowls.

The crooked faucet.

How he'd give anything in that moment to be in his kitchen. Dinner on the table, sink full of dishes. Watching out the window for the headlights of Zabuza's truck to cut through the night.


	2. Never Go Unpunished

The first few chapters will go up quickly as they are already written. after that I will update every Friday. This chapter is on the short side as it is basically to set the stage for things to come. As always, reviews are helpful!

Chapter 2

_**Never Go Unpunished**_

"What do you mean they're _gone_?"

Shifting dark eyes Haku turned to look at the blond haired man whose voice was shaking with rage. His arms cradled a child that couldn't have been more than six. Her body was limp except for the tiny hand clutching a stuffed bear, her eyes clouded and listless. Haku tilted his head down slightly and swallowed hard, slender fingers tugging on the end of dark locks.

"I… I'm the only one left."

Grim silence fell over the packed ER as hundreds of puzzled faces looked to one an other, then back at Haku. Confusion quickly turned to anger laced with panic and a chorus of voices rose up looming over the small male like a tidal wave. Haku rose a shaky hand up feebly as he cleared his throat, conjuring up all the base he could muster.

"I have an idea… to get us out… to get us help."

Though the disdain etched in their faces and glazing their eyes never faltered, it seemed he had at least got their attention. Taking a deep breath he took a step forward.

"I'm going to try to call another hospital, but first we need to get to the maternity ward. The babies there are-"

A loud cracking sound echoed through the room.

A jolt of pain.

Clutching his face Haku stumbled backward falling against the double doors of the triage. The irate woman who had thrown the remote control was standing up now, her fists clutched tightly at her sides. Her daughter laid behind her draped across two of the chairs too sick to move.

"What about _my_ baby?! Here, right now!?"

The chorus of voices rose up again, and rubbing his cheek Haku squinted through watering eyes at the belligerent crowd.

"P-please I know it looks but bad but I have a plan if you all would just-"

The sound was deafening now and Haku couldn't even hear himself think. His whole body was shaking as he tried to raise his voice over the crowd in vain. They were too many. _Too livid_.

There was a loud bang. It tore through the roar of the crowd as screams of fear mixed with the sound of shattering glass. Someone pushed. Someone shoved. Everyone panicked.

_'Gunshots?_'

Before Haku could even give it a second thought he was being shoved his body jerking forward violently as he lost his balance, his head catching the corner of the nearest registration desk. Disorientation then intense pain as he was trampled by the hysteric crowd.

Everything began to fall away. First sound and sight, then the pain. Suddenly he could feel it. Satin sheets against his bare skin. Zabuza's chest rising and falling under his cheek. Was he dreaming? Was he dead?

As he clung to the sensation it mattered less and less.


End file.
